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Homeowner Gun Safes

Phaser

Phaser

Elite
I have never taken a serious look at owning a gun safe. I do know you can never buy BIG enough to accommodate all your prized possessions.
Quality counts but placement is crucial, climate controlled, weight consideration as well. You certainly don't want to overload the floor joints. And what about adequate anchorage. Withstanding a total fire loss is bad enough but you don't want it to walk off either.
In addition to providing a safe haven for firearms...I would want to place valuable coinage and other keepsakes/documents within the vault.
For those that have experience with owning a gun safe I would appreciate your thoughts and concerns in other words the pros/cons of taking that next step.
 
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Getting a second one for your wife’s Beenie Baby collection can free up a bunch of room in your gun safe.

Do some research on the fire capabilities before you let that feature get too far into your calculus. Opening the safe to only find charcoal steel that has had the temper removed, let’s not forget the water damage. A cutoff wheel will laugh at just about any typical gun safe.

You’re probably needing something to stymie smash and grab types, and kids who have no business in there. I guess budget drove my thinking the most.
 
Phaser said:
3-bedroom 2 bath 2100 sq.ft. rancher w/crawlspace. Cinder block peers. Hardwood floors living area...carpet bedrooms w/ tiled baths. Just don't think our home would accommodate.
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you got a spare room where you can "wall off" the door, and maybe have a hidden entrance....???

or, can you make 1 room smaller like take maybe a closet size space, and still have that room, , and have a hidden wall there..??
 
Phaser said:
I have never taken a serious look at owning a gun safe. I do know you can never buy BIG enough to accommodate all your prized possessions.
Quality counts but placement is crucial, climate controlled, weight consideration as well. You certainly don't want to overload the floor joints. And what about adequate anchorage. Withstanding a total fire loss is bad enough but you don't want it to walk off either.
In addition to providing a safe haven for firearms...I would want to place valuable coinage and other keepsakes/documents within the vault.
For those that have experience with owning a gun safe I would appreciate your thoughts and concerns in other words the pros/cons of taking that next step.
Click to expand...
I got my starter safe from these guys. I've since graduated to a vault door on a spare bedroom with a lot of work done to the room. I had the same weight concerns at my old house so I had extra piers installed under the house where the safe was placed. Check their selection out thoroughly to make sure you're getting what you want. My primary concern was fire so the salesman got me into a 2 hour rated safe with water resistance incase the fire department soaked it. Not inexpensive but I considered the value of what I was trying to protect.

American Security Large Gun Safes - Texas Safe & Vault

Shop our wide selection of American Security Gun Safes
safeandvaults.com safeandvaults.com
 
For starters, figure out where your safe is going to be positioned. Then buy as big a safe as you can for that space. No one ever said they wished they’d bought a smaller safe.

I also agree with layers of security. A safe is merely a temporary deterrent to a thief. Generally, they are relatively easy to open by forcible means, so you want to make it difficult and time consuming for a thief.

Fireproof safes are heavier, so that can be a plus. Don’t put it up against an exterior wall. Some folks bolt them to the foundation.

I have a Browning, had it for probably close to 20 years now. Manual dial, don’t want any electronics that could fail. It’s fireproof and in an interior closet, so unless you were looking for it, you’d not find it. I think it’s like a 25 long gun and lots of shelves (where the handguns sit in silicone socks).

We put important papers (passports) and other like items in there. Where I live, fire department response time is like 15 minutes, so I feel adequately protected from house fire risks. Burglary is almost unheard of in my village.

You should go look at various models to help in your decision making.
 
Look at reputable brands, not these crap department store safes. American Security (Am Sec) is a very good brand, i'd look there. I went with their NF6036 model.

You need to determine location and load-bearing support in that location. From there figure out size and fire rating requirements. Always go bigger, and a good baseline is half of the advertised capacity is what it will actually hold. I.E a 48 gun safe will realistically hold 24 or so once you factor in accessories and optics on the guns.

Entry method is more what you feel comfortable with. Mechanical dials are good, but digital keypads are the norm these days. Both have pros and cons. Mechanical doesn't have an electronic lock body that can fail, but service for them will cost you a pretty penny if the internals wear out, fail, or you screw up changing your code. Digital keypad/lock are alot more user and service friendly. Climate control is easy if you are keeping it in the house and not a garage. Buy a Goldenrod for like $30 bucks and never think about it again.

If you are storing documents, cash, jewelry, precious metals etc... then fire rating is also an important consideration. The bigger the safe and better the fire rating the heavier it will be. If you are not versed in moving safes - pay a company to move it to where you need and bolt it down, good safes start around 750-800 lbs and go up from there... it's worth the extra $500 or so.

One last thing I will add.... Triple check your measurements. Know the dimensions of your safe, as well as the doorways it will need to be moved through.

If you have any questions feel free to PM me. (I worked in the industry for 15 years, and still work in physical security background)
 
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We have three Brownings in our garage - an XL, a sort of large, and a small. Our garage is heated and the safes are on wood platforms, which are stronger than pallets. It doesn’t get muggy here that often but we have dehumidifiers in each one. Good luck getting it past the tractor and all the other stuff. One would have a much better chance stealing an ATM out of a convenience store, and we’ve all seen how that goes.
 
A good friend has been a gunsmith and machinist for over fifty years. He also does stock refinishing and hot dip blueing. This has brought him many guns over the years that went through house fires. In all his experience he has seldom seen a safe of any level of quality give enough protection to save the guns inside. Usually any polymer component is melted and distorted. Wood stocks are usually blistered and ruined, and blued steel is rusted on the outside but also bores and internal parts. The problem usually comes from the safe “inhaling” the hot caustic fumes from the fire before the safe itself has gotten hot enough to make the fire seal expand. Then the safe is full of corrosive fumes when it does seal and cooks the contents in that environment. Not saying a good fire safe couldn’t provide some protection in a minor fire but generally it’s a lost cause. Basically just provides some level of ant theft protection.
 
Living in hurricane country I built a strong room addition onto my house. 6 inch studs with 5/8" threaded rods from footer to top plate at every stud bay. 3/4" plywood glued and screwed on the roof, on the ceiling, and both sides of the studs so its like a solid cube.A/C ducting from the main house controls humidity. A safe inside the room for the most valuable items if we are traveling. Otherwise my collection hangs on the wall. Reinforced steel exit door leading outside with three Katybars on the inside. My 40kw generator is bolted to a pad 6 feet from the exit door and that's all inside a fence. A Browning safe door leading from a closet in the house to the safe room. We open the door when storms threaten. Inflatable matresses if needed and a stack of MRE'S. Two dogs, and security cameras with 360 degree coverage around the property. At least two armed and irritable occupants inside most of the time. It's not impossible to penetrate any security system but crooks would have to make a whole lot of noise, be recorded, bring a chainsaw, be there a while, and risk the Wrath of God breaking in. The only thing I would do differently if I did it again would be portland cement and wire lath on the walls.
 
ddeuce22 said:
Look at reputable brands, not these crap department store safes. American Security (Am Sec) is a very good brand, i'd look there. I went with their NF6036 model.

You need to determine location and load-bearing support in that location. From there figure out size and fire rating requirements. Always go bigger, and a good baseline is half of the advertised capacity is what it will actually hold. I.E a 48 gun safe will realistically hold 24 or so once you factor in accessories and optics on the guns.

Entry method is more what you feel comfortable with. Mechanical dials are good, but digital keypads are the norm these days. Both have pros and cons. Mechanical doesn't have an electronic lock body that can fail, but service for them will cost you a pretty penny if the internals wear out, fail, or you screw up changing your code. Digital keypad/lock are alot more user and service friendly. Climate control is easy if you are keeping it in the house and not a garage. Buy a Goldenrod for like $30 bucks and never think about it again.

If you are storing documents, cash, jewelry, precious metals etc... then fire rating is also an important consideration. The bigger the safe and better the fire rating the heavier it will be. If you are not versed in moving safes - pay a company to move it to where you need and bolt it down, good safes start around 750-800 lbs and go up from there... it's worth the extra $500 or so.

One last thing I will add.... Triple check your measurements. Know the dimensions of your safe, as well as the doorways it will need to be moved through.

If you have any questions feel free to PM me. (I worked in the industry for 15 years, and still work in physical security background)
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We purchased the fireproof bags for the docs/jewels due to this reason that go in the safe.
Large fireproof bag with an added smaller inside bag for double layered protection for docs.

maxsafes.com

MAXSafes® Fireproof Document Bag

Protect your important documents and valuables with the MAXSafes® Fireproof Document Bag. Designed to withstand extreme heat up to 2000°F and resist water, this compact yet durable bag offers reliable protection. Ideal for storing passports, legal documents, cash, it features a dual-layer...
maxsafes.com maxsafes.com
 
I have 2 safes and they have different purposes. For the truly important / valuable items a safety deposit box is my choice. I have a Liberty and a Hollon. I would find safes that allow for you to make adjustments, some are what you see is what you get. I removed the long gun section and added shelves in my Hollon. I live in a higher humidity climate and am fortunate to have the space in the house but still use a simple dehumidifier. I have multiple long guns and pistols. The liberty is for my long guns, related accessories and personal stuff. The Hollon handles the majority of my handguns, accessories, and more personal stuff. It took a few years to finally get to this arrangement. If you have the room a safe that will fit is a sound investment IMO.
 
southtex said:
I have 2 safes and they have different purposes. For the truly important / valuable items a safety deposit box is my choice. I have a Liberty and a Hollon. I would find safes that allow for you to make adjustments, some are what you see is what you get. I removed the long gun section and added shelves in my Hollon. I live in a higher humidity climate and am fortunate to have the space in the house but still use a simple dehumidifier. I have multiple long guns and pistols. The liberty is for my long guns, related accessories and personal stuff. The Hollon handles the majority of my handguns, accessories, and more personal stuff. It took a few years to finally get to this arrangement. If you have the room a safe that will fit is a sound investment IMO.
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Keep up with your bank and safety deposit box. Banks can seize them after lack of activity. In less time than you think, fine print shows as little as six months for some banks. Make sure you go several times a year to check contents
 
Yes sir. We are able to meet the requirements. An overlooked item especially if you don't auto pay is lack of payment which starts the seizure clock from 1st day overdue.
 
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